1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a walk aid apparatus that may be used on walker devices or other assistive or rehabilitative equipment for assisting the elderly, partially handicapped, victims of stroke, with limited movement from being injured, or any other persons needing assistance walking that need to move about in an upright position. More particularly, the present invention relates to a walking aid that could combine a walker, framed bars, and adaptable controls and devices for different degrees of user coordination based on a person's own step patterns.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wheelchairs and walkers of various types and designs have been used for a considerable period of time for the purpose of assisting partially disabled individuals or injured persons to remain mobile on their own without support. Wheelchair designs have become quite sophisticated as a result of efforts intended to enable individuals to have a degree of control over their own movements. A major disadvantage of wheelchairs and other related devices in general is that such devices, while assisting disabled or injured individuals in moving about an area, restrict individuals to a relatively rigid sitting position within the chair that causes continual pressure and contact on the same areas of the body, and may lead to such complications as skin and tissue degeneration.
Additionally, wheelchairs and other mobility devices afford the individual little opportunity for realistic physical activities. For example, children who have difficulty walking are generally put in a wheelchair when they become too heavy to carry, and they become too old for their crawling to be socially acceptable. Another example is when someone elderly starts to show signs of having problems with mobility they often must resign themselves to relying on a wheelchair and limited movement of their limbs in order to feel safe in their environments. This attitude overlooks the fact that the human body is a machine designed to move, not simply sit. Such lack of motion has a negative impact on total functioning and development of the child's body, mental outlook, and social development.
Walker devices were designed to overcome some of the aforementioned problems associated with wheelchairs. It is known that devices that enable a partially disabled individual to remain in a standing position for relatively long periods of time, e.g. two or more hours at a time, provide substantial advantages and benefits to the disabled individual that is forced to remain seated in a wheelchair or other device. More particularly, passive standing produces beneficial physiological effects that include the reduction of bone and calcium loss, reduction of hypercalciuria and urinary calculi, increased muscular tone and maintenance of range of motion, improved orthostatic circulatory regulation, and increased bladder pressure.
Additionally, substantial psychological benefits results from permitting partially physically disabled or restricted, elderly or severely injured individuals to remain in a standing position. Such standing positions provide increased independence and morale as well as permit the person to continue to function in life under their own power. As a result, walker devices of various types have been developed to permit the partially disabled individual to remain in the standing position for a period of at least several hours and remain mobile.
A problem is often encountered when a disabled individual makes the transition from the use of parallel bars in physical therapy to the use of a walker. Parallel bars provide secure and immovable support for the individual, whereas a walker is made for movement. As a partial solution, an individual in physical therapy may be able to walk using parallel bars, or anywhere else where a handrail is available. It is sometimes the case that a disabled elderly or injured person's install hand rails throughout their residence to provide mobility in that environment. The drawback with handrails is that they only are available in fixed locations. Thus, while handrails are a solution, few individuals could accept or afford placing handrails everywhere. An integrated walker allows for mobility anywhere that a person walking normally goes under their own power.
It is not unusual that countless attempts are made to progress a partially disabled or injured person from parallel bars to a standard walker. However, these efforts often fail because the walker is not designed to go at the pace of the individual. The problem is not the person or the walker; it is the mismatch between them and the stride that each person's body naturally accommodates.